“Among concerns surrounding transparency in an effort to recount ballots cast in the 2020 election in Maricopa County, ABC15 has learned the company leading the effort is now requiring legal documents be signed by volunteers who want to participate. Tuesday, an anonymous observer who volunteered to take part in watching the hand recount of ballots, sent ABC15 a copy of an agreement they say Cyber Ninjas is now requiring all observers to sign. The NDA explains observers must agree to keep information detailing what they saw and experienced while present to themselves, unless given permission by the company” ABC15 reports.

““The very heart of being an observer is to be able to watch, to observe, to take that information and to share it with others,’ said Tammy Patrick with the Democracy Fund. Patrick previously worked at the Maricopa County Elections Department from 2003 to 2014. ‘To have a non-disclosure agreement is the exact opposite of what the heart of an observation program is supposed to be remedying,’ she added. The agreement reads in part: ‘I agree that unless I am authorized in writing by Cyber Ninjas, Inc. and the Arizona State Senate, I will not disclose any Confidential Information to any person who is not conducting the Audit… Furthermore, I agree that during the course of the audit to refrain from making any public statements, social media posts, or similar public disclosures about the audit or its findings until such a time as the results from the audit are made public…'”